27. Muse - "Will of the People"

This is the record Queen would have made if they had developed a social conscience in the late seventies, decided not to play ‘Sun City’, and instead had gone off and recorded a damning socially astute protest album calling for an imminent revolution. 

When Muse were asked by their record company to produce the greatest hits record, they baulked at the idea and instead created this. “Will Of The People” is a breakneck journey through every nook and cranny of their 28-year career. Over the course of its 10 tracks, it manages to touch on every single one of their various musical tent poles. 

I usually have a problem with cloistered multi-millionaire getting all uppity on record about the state of the world (Mr Roger Waters I’m looking at you), however, the inane level of outrage at societal ills on this album manages to come across as powerful indignation as opposed to crass bandwagon jumping. For all their millions and for all their high convoluted ideas, Muse actually sound like they have an idea of what life is actually like for those without their money and that they have got something coherent to say about it. 

Musically, “Will of the People” is a Day-Glo explosion of camp Disco and over-the-top rock histrionics. It leaves the whole concept of subtlety at the door and instead goes as big and as bold as possible. But it is its level of political discourse that stops it from being cheesy or superfluous. For all its elaborate flourishes it is actually a very grounded and spectacularly angry album.